Nottingham Forest appoint Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager on a two-and-a-half year deal as he replaces sacked Steve Cooper

Nottingham Forest have appointed Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach.

The Portuguese has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the City Ground following Tuesday’s sacking of Steve Cooper.

Nuno, who will take charge of Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth, returns to English football following a two-year absence when he left Tottenham after an ill-fated four-month stay.

He has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad in November and takes over at Forest with the club five points above the relegation zone.

The 49-year-old replaces Cooper, who lost his job after a run of one win in 13 Premier League matches.

Cooper, 44, had the support of the Forest fans after taking them from the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship to Premier League survival last season.

It was fan power that saved him from the sack last term but, with another summer of heavy investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, the Greek businessman has lost patience.

Nuno, who met his players and took training on Wednesday morning, will be expected to lead Forest away from danger in the second half of the campaign.

He will be hoping to recapture the magic that saw him become one of the hottest properties in the Premier League when he guided Wolves to back-to-back seventh-placed finishes after winning promotion from the Championship.

He also took the Molineux club to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and was chosen by Spurs as the man to replace Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2021.

However, he lasted just 10 Premier League games before being sacked and was heavily criticised for his pragmatic style of play.

He was linked with a return to Wolves just over a year ago, but the midlands club chose Julen Lopetegui.